Continuing development toward wearable devices and the internet-of-things has motivated the development of flexible electronics. Customarily, electronics were formed on rigid silicon platforms that were not well adapted to these uses. To address this issue, flexible electronics have been developed that are formed on flexible polymer-based platforms. One difficulty encountered with the use of flexible polymer-based platforms is the integration of motion sensors.
Motion sensors, including accelerometers and gyroscopes, are used in a wide variety of applications, and generally include a structure formed onto a silicon platform. As a result, current solutions provide a heterogeneous integration of silicon-based sensors with polymer-based electronics. The silicon sensors decrease the flexibility of the resulting device, and flexure of the device can negatively impact the performance of the sensors. Additionally, since the sensors and electronics are made using different platforms, manufacturing such heterogeneous devices becomes increasingly complex, costly, and time-consuming.
Based on the foregoing, a motion sensor that is flexible would be beneficial. A motion sensor that can be formed homogeneously with flexible electronics would also be beneficial.